Arkansas Tech’s Blaine Sims was named Gulf South Conference West Division pitcher of the week by the league office in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday.
Sims, a left-handed junior from Scott, was the winning pitcher in a 4-2 Arkansas Tech victory over Delta State on Sunday.
The win allowed the Wonder Boys to become the first team to ever sweep a three-game GSC series from Delta State at its home park of Ferriss Field in Cleveland, Miss. It was Tech’s first-ever series victory over the Statesmen.
Sims allowed one run on four hits over seven and one-third innings of work. He struck out five and walked two while winning his third straight decision.
Arkansas Tech (33-14 overall, 13-4 GSC) is in second place in the GSC West Division with one regular season conference weekend remaining.
The Wonder Boys, winners of eight consecutive contests, will visit Harding University (23-23, 7-10) for a three-game GSC series at Jerry Moore Field in Searcy this weekend.
Tech and Harding will play two games beginning at noon Saturday. Radio station KCAB 980 AM and www.athletics.atu.edu will have live play-by-play coverage.
The Wonder Boys and the Bisons will conclude their series with a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday. KCAB and www.athletics.atu.edu will have updates from that game during a broadcast of Arkansas Tech’s softball doubleheader against Arkansas-Monticello on Sunday afternoon.
Tech needs just one win against Harding or one Delta State loss against Southern Arkansas in order for the Wonder Boys to clinch the No. 2 seed from the GSC West in the GSC Tournament.
Arkansas Tech is already assured of no worse than a No. 3 seed in the league’s postseason tournament, which is scheduled for May 1-5 at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn.
Tech needs two wins to break the school record for baseball victories in a season. The current record of 34 wins was set by the 1994 Wonder Boys.
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